Plan for Project.

The Brief

Wick harbour used to be a major herring port, but since the collapse of the herring industry after the Second World War, the harbour is a far less significant player in the industry and economics of the town. The aim of this project is to document the harbour as it is today, with the intention of illustrating what industry still exists, as well as the harbour’s part in the day to day activities of the town. Producing the project in early spring rather than summer will also give a clear idea of the harbour’s role outside of the tourist season.

The Methodological Considerations

As this project takes as its focal point the harbour, my aim is not to photograph people. Therefore, any identifying features of individuals accidentally captured on the pictures will be removed from the photograph. Care will also have to taken during photographing as the harbour is still the site of industrial activity and a lot of heavy machinery.

Equipment Needs

To conduct this project, I will need a digital camera (the one I will be using is a Fujifilm Finepix S1600) and a computer. The computer must have software able to pixellate any faces, as well as internet access for the creation of the blog.

Sample Considerations

The activity in the harbour will be photographed on at least two separate occasions, which should allow for comparisons to be made.

Ethical Issues To Be Considered

As this project is not about photographing people, and any identifying features will be removed from the photographs prior to them being put onto the blog, ethics should not pose any concerns.

Restraints and Issues Expected

Because this is an outdoor project, the weather will be a consideration, as my camera has a tendency to function poorly when it’s cold, and I avoid taking photos with it when it’s raining heavily. However, I don’t anticipate any other issues arising during the development of the project.

A comment on the Journalistic Image as Visual Sociology.

The world that is portrayed through the media is a very visual one, and photo journalism plays a key role its portrayal. The old adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is evident in the success that has been enjoyed by the Journalistic Image.

With this is mind, it is important to look at just how useful the journalistic image is in terms of understanding Visual Sociology.

Questions have been raised regarding “the public’s perception of the relationship between an ostensibly journalistic image and reality” (Wheeler 2002: 9), which disputes the claim that the camera never lies. It becomes apparent whilst studying the journalistic image that photographers have, for as long as cameras have been in existence, been using other technology to alter the reality that was the focus of the image. For example, “The Harvest of Death” (1863) American Civil War photograph by Timothy H. O’Sullivan was actually “a composite made from three photographs” (Wheeler 2002: 15).

When it is considered that the journalistic image is not always an accurate representation of the truth, it important then to question how representative it is of Visual Sociology. Although journalistic images are not necessarily historically accurate in how they depict people and events, they can still be seen as a key part of Visual Sociology because they are encoded by the photographer in such a way that certain societies share a collective consciousness that allows them to decode a particular meaning behind the photograph, and the image is created with that in mind.

Wheeler, T. (2002) Phototruth or Photofiction. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

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